Not only did Chuck Norris serve in the Air Force, but he has served as spokesman for the VA and was named the Air Force's Veteran of the Year in 2001. It's unclear if he won any top-secret wars using only his unparalleled martial arts skills.

Before becoming one of the men who took hip hop to the mainstream in the 1990s, Nate Dogg was a munitions specialist in the US Marines. The late rapper once said he joined the military to "see if I was a man."

When 18-year-old James Marshall Hendrix was busted on stolen car charges in 1961, he was given a choice: the Army or prison. He took the former, and later received an honorable discharge for an ankle injury sustained as a paratrooper.

Before he became the ultimate Playboy, Hugh Hefner enlisted in the army as an infantry clerk and won a sharpshooter badge in basic training. While enlisted in Oregon, then Virginia, he drew cartoons for Army newspapers.

During high school, Bill Cosby dropped out to join the Navy, where he worked as a medical aide on ships and in military hospitals. He also became a member of the Navy's track team, and earned his high school diploma while enlisted in the service. After hitting fame in show business, he became an honorary chief hospital corpsman.

All My Children actor and Dancing With the Stars winner J.R. Martinez was known first for his amazing story. After suffering severe burns, losing 34 percent of his body and having to re-learn how to walk following a 2003 strike on his military vehicle, Martinez traveled the U.S. delivering motivational speeches to other injured veterans.